Here come the girls

Since my last post, I've had some information about the first women to umpire men's matches. I contacted the ITF to find out when female officials first started working on the men's circuit. The ITF informs me that they have consulted with colleagues at the ATP and they believe women started umpiring men's matches in the 1970s.

It may have taken three more decades for Wimbledon to offer the same prize money to both men and women, but it seems that strides were being made towards equality in officialdom relatively early on. Georgina Clark of Great Britain and Woodie Sublet of the USA were significant umpires of the 1970s, according to the ITF.

"I see no reason why they should have women in the chair."

- McEnroe

With a little more research I discovered that Georgina encountered the wrath of Mr J P McEnroe in her time as an umpire. A newspaper article from 1981 states that she gave the American a warning in his match against Brian Gottfried at the Stella Artois Championships at Queen's Club.

McEnroe was not exactly an advocate for progress at the time. "I don't know that I like the idea of women umpires," he said after the match. "I see no reason why they should have women in the chair."

"It's hard to get upset with a lady umpire. In general I think it's better to have a man dealing with men," the New Yorker added. It seems his comments fell on deaf ears.